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You Ever Run into Your Ex?
Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 11:40 PM on August 23, 2007
To: Crecente
From: Bashcraft
Glad to see you made it to Germany, Bird Shirt and all.
Had to run a few errands and needed to swing by Yodobashi Camera in Umeda to pick up some crap for my computer. As I was making a beeline through the store, I saw a woman descending down the elevator. An ex-girlfriend. Not just someone I dated once or twice, but someone I lived with for a few months light years ago.
Nice enough girl. We got on decent enough. She was, however, a hostess. Not really a concept I understood when I moved in with her. At that time, I was still rather green Japan-wise and young and really didn't give a toss. So when she said her job was to pour drinks for old men, I just kinda wrote it off as a Japanese custom! The short of it: I was young, she was young, it didn't work out. She didn't want to quit — the money was too good. And the entire situation started to weird me out, her being in her early twenties and pulling in ten grand a month.
I decided to move out. Met Mrs. Bashcraft. At a bookstore. We became inseparable. Started writing professionally around that time. Things started happening.
Announced yesterday at Leipzig, Konami's Pro Evo football series will be returning to a Nintendo home console for the first time in aaaaages with a Wii version of Pro Evo 8. Sound good? There's a couple of catches. First, it's running later than the other versions, and won't be ready until Q1 2008. Second, all the press release really mentions is waggle control. No word on anything like online multiplayer or how many leagues/teams it's going to feature. That's not to say it won't feature all of that, just...hold your horses until we get more info. Presser follows.
Kojima Productions just posted a podcast conversation between Hideo Kojima, Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond and AC creative director Patrice Desilets. The chat runs about twenty minutes — 8 of which is them saying how much they dig each other's games. Though, there is some grist towards the end when KP's Ryan Payton puts forth the PS3/Xbox 360 cross-platform question, asking if they like the rumours and speculation. While Patrice says he personally finds it "fun," Jade adds:
Hideo Kojima revealed today at Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4 - only press conference the "Beauty and the Beast" story theme for Kojima Productions' next. The game will feature a number of characters and bosses based on real-life actresses and models, all of whom were motion captured by Kojima Productions to lend an extra dose of reality to their virtual characters, a first for the series.
Shhhhhhhh! Second Life might be getting a bit of a backlash, but don't tell IBM. The computer co. is enamoured with SL. It's the future they say! IBM opened its virtual SL Business Center earlier this spring in order to provide sales and support services. According to IBM director of Global Web Strategy & Innovation Maggie Blayney:
As we mentioned 
Microsoft just sent word that Project Gotham Racing 4 is nearly done, and will be released in the US on October 2 and in Europe on October 14. It'll go for $US60. Not content with just this vital information, they also sent along a list of ten more cars that will feature in the game, as well as nine more bikes. Which normally wouldn't excite me, but I've got a thing for Aston Martins, so the 2005 Vantage V8's inclusion is good news. Rest of the new additions are only a click away.
PC shooter Crysis developer Crytek has loads of ideas in the pipeline. Loads! The developer already has an entire team dedicated to the PS3. According Cryteck honcho Cevat Yerli, the studio even has a "separate" room creating "some secret technologies...which are not related to the CryEngine 2." Crytek also has an Xbox 360 title in the works. It's not a FPS and a "complete departure" from the studio's titles Crysis and Far Cry. What about the Wii? Yerli answers:
Just because space cadet Yuko Ogura is no longer Sega's "image character" doesn't mean we can't post non-news about her. Oh no. Once a SEGA spokesperson, always a SEGA spokesperson! Above is a an official Yuko Ogura LIVE MASK. Just take a gander at that! Are you creeped out? We are totally creeped out. And it takes a lot to creep us out.
Nintendo have announced a release date for Phantom Hourglass in Europe. And it's in 2007! October 19, actually, which is less than a month after the game's US release. Leaves European Zelda fans in a pickle - do you wait 2-3 weeks and grab it locally? Or do you import to shave a week or two off that wait? Unless your English isn't the best. Then I guess you just wait for the local release. For English-speakers, though...decisions decisions.
First instinct upon seeing the cover art was "no, this is not going to end well". Now we've got some Cruis'n screens...this does not look like it's going to end well. Unless this is some kind of joke (oh haha we can make a 2006 Ubisoft Wii racer too). But it's probably not. Midway, seriously, what the fuck is this? I know that graphics aren't everything, but...they're still something.
Once again, Epic honcho Mark Rein gives a master-class in flamebait. Previously, he was 
You think Nippon Ichi, you do not think Xbox 360. Disgaea, Phantom Brave, La Pucelle: Tactics...they're not 360 games! Which is probably the whole point behind a deal which will see Nippon Ichi publishing games on the 360. No further word on anything like games or timeframes, but an XBLA version of any of the above names might be a good place to start. That or all-new games. Either way, I'm not fussed, sure there'll be some people in Japan and some people outside Japan happy about this.
Microsoft have just announced they're giving out free retrofits for all 360 wireless racing wheels sold, following some complaints they've received from users experiencing problems. Problems like...overheating. No shit. Seems a few owners have, while using the power supply (ie not in wireless mode), had their wheels overheat and spew smoke. Microsoft are recommending users hold off from using the power supply until they can get a retrofit, and have contacted all relevant product safety bodies in order to get the word out. Overheating. You gotta be kidding me. Press release follows.
What was missing in SimCity? Hot spots for dating and "adult goods." With Batsu Batsu na Kanojo no Tsukurikata, erotic games maker Kiss is picking up where Will Wright left off. The game features traditional dating sim elements plus a "city development system" that is reminiscent of SimCity. What's different is that you're goal isn't to make citizens happy or foster an active economy, but focusing on creating dating spots like restaurants, theme parks and "adult goods" shops to woo ladies at. The official site is scant on info, so we're not quite sure how extensive this SimCity bit is or if it's just a gimmick. Still, the idea that you're building amusement parks, restaurants and adults-only stores to court game heroines is HILARIOUS. Once more screenshots surface, we shall post them. Oh yes, we shall. 
So what if the show's just opened? Think the awards committee give a shit? They don't. They've already announced the nominees for "Best in Show" across ten categories, with the winners to be announced on Friday morning in the Leipziger Messe Press Conference room. Click through for the nominees.
In a SHOCKING, SURPRISING move, Sony have announced that Buzz!, the quiz game that NOBODY I know owns (and my net in this case is being cast wide, dear readers) and yet manages to sit in the PAL sales charts week in, week out, is getting a PS3 version. Called Buzz! Quiz TV, it takes a similar approach to the PS3's SingStar, in that instead of continually releasing themed versions on disc, it'll connect online and give you access to at first 5000 questions (on the bundled disc, and across all subjects), and later "tens of thousands". Best part, though, is that you can come up with your OWN questions, which should give them game a fair leg-up in the longevity stakes. Oh, another online feature it'll be taking advantage of is team play - you'll be able to form teams and compete against others, in some kind of online pub trivia night but without the cheap schnitzel and the annoying uni kids in the corner blurting out every answer. The game's due in March 2008.
EA and Harmonix aren't done with the Rock Band announcements. 
We didn't actually get to play Eidos' Pony Friends for the Nintendo DS on the Games Convention show floor today, but we did find time to walk past the booth in a hurry to get somewhere else. Most surprising thing about the title we learned today is that it, apparently, has a strong military aspect to it. You can use grenades to take out swarms of enemies? Awesome.
Nintendo's 2006 mega-hit Wii Sports isn't just a hit with stroke victims and alpha moms, the Germans love it, too. Capitalising on the opportunity to finally show Wii Sports to the three attendees of Games Convention who haven't yet played Wii Sports—I presume having just been released from a long prison stay or pulled from a nine month stay in a well—Nintendo has opted to dedicate nearly a quarter of its 28 display kiosks to the game.
Sony had a half-dozen or so demo stations featuring the PlayStation Network racer WipEout HD for the PLAYSTATION 3 at Games Convention, comfortably placed in front of golden toilet seats. The 1080p, sixty frames per second remake features some of the best moments from past WipeOuts, layering a lifetime of features on top of well known mechanics, aesthetics and locations.
Last year's GC Developers Conference was a pretty big deal, drawing over 650 participants from all over the world. This year blew last year out of the water, with more than 900 attendees from over 35 countries converging on Leipzig to exchange thoughts and ideas about the industry, winding things up with a keynote on creativity from Double Fine's Tim Schaefer. 
While the PSP might not be everyone's favourite gaming platform, it certainly is becoming a highly versatile little piece of technology. Even more so now that Sony has revealed a
For those who are impatient, Racer_S over at Widescreen Gaming Forum has apparently created a BioShock widescreen hack. Once installing the program, is should correct the sleeve cropping that occurs in the game. This hack, of course, is only for the PC version. Over at WGF, folks in Vista and XP are getting it to work (some are not), so this app should conceivably do the trick. It doesn't work for every version of Vista — like, it doesn't work for Vista 64 bit. What about 360 owners? You're still screwed. Well, for now. 
It happened. Even with a year headstart, the Xbox 360 has been eclipsed by the Nintendo Wii in sales. According to independent tracker Video Game Chartz, the Wii just passed the 360 this week. Gotta numbers fetish? Here's the breakdown:
Sega and developer The Creative Assembly are tripping through the time streams together something fierce. Having just yesterday announced 
